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Found 813 results
  1. Content Article
    Unconscious bias, which is deeply ingrained and often hard to recognise, impacts decisions in ways we may not realise. Implicit bias, shaped by repeated exposure to real-world interactions, also plays a significant role in this phenomenon. As such, in healthcare, intuitive decision-making can be a double-edged sword. It can help during emergencies but can also lead to discrimination and biases, especially in complex situations. In addition, hidden and automatic biases, which are further strengthened by unquestioned repeated practices, have a significant impact on daily healthcare interactions. Historically, gynaecology occupied a marginalised position within the realm of surgical care, often relegated to the status of a ‘Cinderella service’. This perception stemmed from societal attitudes and gender biases, which influenced how gynaecological surgeries were viewed in comparison with other surgical specialties. Gynaecology, being predominantly focused on women's reproductive health, was sometimes considered less prestigious or less prioritised than other surgical fields such as orthopaedic surgery or general surgery.
  2. Content Article
    This document provides examples of how the justice system is failing mesh victims and why a Redress Agency is imperative.
  3. News Article
    Health experts say more attention should be given to patients’ experiences after research found multiple examples of their insights being undervalued. A study led by the University of Cambridge and King’s College London found clinicians ranked patient self-assessments as the least important when making diagnostic decisions. Ethnicity and gender were felt to influence diagnosis, particularly a perception that women were more likely to be told their symptoms were psychosomatic. Male clinicians were more likely to say that patients overplay symptoms. The findings prompted calls for clinicians to move away from the “doctor knows best attitude” when caring for patients. One patient shared the feeling of being disbelieved as “degrading and dehumanising”, and added: “I’ll tell them my symptoms and they’ll tell me that symptom is wrong, or I can’t feel pain there, or in that way.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 18 December 2023
  4. News Article
    Mothers in England will be asked in detail if pregnancy or giving birth has affected their mental health as a result of new NHS guidance to GPs. The move is part of a drive by NHS England to improve support for women suffering postnatal depression or other mental health problems linked to their pregnancy or childbirth. Under the new guidance GPs will ask women more questions than before about how they are feeling when they attend their postnatal health check six to eight weeks after giving birth. Family doctors will look for any sign that the woman may have a condition such as postnatal PTSD as a result of experiencing a traumatic birth or psychosis induced by bearing a child. Anyone who the GP feels needs help with their mental wellbeing will be referred to specialist maternal mental health services, which have been expanded in recent years. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 18 December 2023
  5. News Article
    Women in labour at a London maternity unit deemed “inadequate” were left alone with unsupervised support workers who were not given any guidance, an NHS safety watchdog has found. In a scathing report of North Middlesex Hospital’s maternity services, the Care Quality Commission also found examples of delays to induction of birth for women, and one case of a woman with a still-born baby who was left waiting for the unit to call her in for an induction. Inspectors have downgraded the maternity unit from “good” to the lowest possible rating “inadequate” following an inspection earlier this year. Staff reportedly told inspectors they felt they were “criticised” or “bullied” when reporting safety incidents within the unit. “We heard that the criticism or bullying was worse if the incident reported was relative to other staff and their perceived behaviours,” the report said. There was also evidence the hospital was not recording the severity of safety incidents correctly for example two “never events”, which are among the highest category incidents, were categorised as “low harm”. Other findings included women and babies came to harm as the hospitals did not follow standards to language interpretation despite covering a higher than average minority ethnic population. Read full story Source: The Independent, 11 December 2023
  6. News Article
    New official guidance on treating menopause will harm women’s health, experts, MPs and campaigners have warned. Last month, new draft guidelines to GPs from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) said that women experiencing hot flushes, night sweats, depression and sleep problems could be offered cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) “alongside or as an alternative to” hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to help reduce their menopause symptoms. But critics have castigated the guidance, saying it belittled symptoms through misogynistic language, and women’s health would suffer as a result of failing to emphasise the benefits of HRT on bone and cardiovascular health as opposed to CBT. In its response to the guidance, Mumsnet said NICE's recommendations used “patronising” and “offensive” language and would be “detrimental” to women’s health. Justine Roberts, the founder and chief executive of Mumsnet, said: “Women already struggle to access the HRT they are entitled to. We hear daily from women in perimenopause and menopause who are battling against a toxic combination of entrenched misogyny, misinformation and lack of knowledge among GPs. “Too often they are fobbed off or told they simply need to put up with severe physical and mental symptoms – often with life-changing effects. “By emphasising the negative over the positive, failing to include information about the safest forms of HRT and placing CBT on a par with hormone replacement therapy, this guidance will worsen that struggle. It will make doctors more reluctant to prescribe HRT and women more fearful about asking for or accepting it.” Carolyn Harris, the MP for Swansea East and the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on menopause, said the new guidance was “antiquated”, “naive” and “ill thought-out”. ”Talking can make you feel better, but it’s not going to take away the aches in your joints and it’s not going to change how you live your life,” she said. “Whatever a woman feels is what she needs to support her through the menopause should be readily and immediately available, and that’s not true currently [of HRT or CBT]." Read full story Source: The Guardian, 11 December 2023
  7. News Article
    A consultant gynaecologist who admitted sterilising a woman without her permission has been suspended from practising for 12 months. The woman - known as Patient A - was sterilised by Dr David Sim following an emergency caesarean section. Dr Sim previously admitted that the sterilisation was not necessary to save the woman's life or prevent harm to her health. The procedure took place at Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry in September 2021. On 1 December, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) found his fitness to practice was impaired. The tribunal previously heard Dr Sim and the patient had discussed sterilisation twice over a period of years, but the patient had never consented or expressed any wish to undergo sterilisation. When she required the emergency caesarean section, Dr Sim delivered the baby and blocked the patient's fallopian tubes to permanently impair their normal function. Dr Sim previously admitted to the tribunal that this was in violation of the woman's reproductive rights. Read full story Source: BBC News, 5 December 2023
  8. News Article
    Living with seizures and crippling pain, Zara Corbett says she's "begging for help" as she copes with endometriosis. The 21-year-old told BBC News NI that if she had any other condition she would be receiving help. "With gynae problems, particularly endometriosis, you are left waiting for years." "Women should not be left suffering this pain, it's not good enough," the beautician said. Zara has been put into early menopause - which is one potential treatment for endometriosis. The County Down woman said Northern Ireland needed a dedicated centre to provide specialist support. "I am begging for help from medical professionals including support from a multi-agency network because we are at our wits end - life cannot go on like this," she said. Endometriosis UK, an organisation that helps women with the condition, said it was shocked and saddened that it does not see "good, prompt care" in Northern Ireland. Its chief executive, Emma Cox, who visited Belfast in May, said services in Northern Ireland were "lagging behind" the rest of the UK. "We hear of the very long waiting lists to access gynaecologists to get a diagnosis but also waiting lists to access surgeons, it's about the disease being taken seriously," Ms Cox said. Read full story Source: BBC News, 6 December 2023
  9. News Article
    Undergoing a medical procedure without an anaesthetic felt like being "flayed alive", according to Dee Dickens. The 53-year-old is one of many in the UK who have reported having a hysteroscopy, which is used to examine the uterus, without enough pain relief. Clinical guidelines say patients must be given anaesthetic options before the gynaecological exam. Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board said it was concerned by the experiences of Ms Dickens and urged her to get in touch. Ms Dickens, from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, had a hysteroscopy as an outpatient at the Royal Glamorgan Hospital in Llantrisant after experiencing bleeding despite being menopausal. Ms Dickens said her medical notes and past childhood sexual abuse were not considered and she was not offered a local anaesthetic prior to the procedure in October 2022. Due to underlying health conditions, including fibromyalgia and Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS), she was reluctant to have a general anaesthetic as it would have left her "poorly for weeks" so she had the hysteroscopy on painkillers only. "Everybody's bustling, so it's really difficult to advocate for yourself," said Ms Dickens. When the procedure began, she said she felt extreme pain, adding: "I was very aware that I was a black woman who felt like she was being experimented on with no anaesthetic. "They took out my coil and then they started on the biopsies and good God, that felt like being flayed alive. It was awful. "It was like having my insides scraped out and blown up all at the same time." Read full story Source: BBC News, 27 November 2023 What is your experience of having a hysteroscopy? Add your story to our painful hysteroscopy hub community thread.
  10. Content Article
    Doctors should be taught physical examination skills that are inclusive of all patients, says Joy Hodkinson in this BMJ opinion piece.
  11. News Article
    A surgeon has said it would have been "cruel and unacceptable" to have woken up a patient to get consent for a mesh operation. Anthony Dixon is accused of failing to provide adequate clinical care to five patients at Southmead Hospital and the private Spire Hospital in Bristol. He had pioneered the use of artificial mesh to lift prolapsed bowels. Mr Dixon appeared at a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing in Manchester on Thursday. He faces charges of performing procedures that were not "clinically indicated", failing to carry out tests and investigations and failing to obtain consent from patients. It followed complaints many had suffered pain or trauma after having pelvic floor surgery using artificial mesh, a technique known as laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy (LVMR). Giving evidence, he was asked why he did not consider waking up one female patient who underwent an LVMR, to get her consent to surgery. Mr Dixon said it would have meant giving her more drugs for pain relief and could have "multiplied the risks" to her. He is also accused of failing to advise patients about the risks of procedures, failing to discuss non-surgical options and dismissing patients' concerns when they experienced pain or other symptoms following surgery. Read full story Source: BBC News, 23 November 2023 Related reading on the hub: Woman’s mesh consent form was changed after signing – how can patients be better protected?
  12. Content Article
    Two reproductive health conditions common in women, polycystic ovary syndrome and dysmenorrhea, are each associated with increasing cardiovascular disease risk, according to two preliminary studies presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2023. 
  13. Content Article
    Yvette Greenway-Mansfield experienced complications relating to the vaginal mesh that was used to treat a uterine prolapse. Those complications were not listed on the consent form she signed. Fortunately, she kept her copy and was able to prove this. Yvette has recently been awarded £1 million because it was found that her form had been doctored after she had signed it.   Her successful medical negligence claim was also based on the fact that alternative treatment options were not considered when they should have been. These alternatives came with fewer risks, and it was agreed that they would actually have been more suitable in her case.  In this blog, I reflect on the levels of harm caused to the patient and how digital consent forms could help protect others. 
  14. News Article
    Women are underrepresented in clinical trials, and even lab mice are predominantly male – and the effects show up in almost every aspect of human health Women are twice as likely as men to die from heart attacks; when a nonsmoker dies of lung cancer, it’s twice as likely to be a woman as a man; and women suffer more than men from Alzheimer’s and autoimmune disease. Yet research into these conditions, and many more, generally fails to examine women separately. It’s even less likely to look at disparities affecting women of color – why, for instance, Black women are nearly three times more likely to die in pregnancy than white women are. It’s been 30 years since the US Congress ordered the National Institutes of Health to make sure women were included equally in clinical trials. Despite some progress, research on women still lags, and there’s growing evidence that women and girls are paying the price. “Research on women’s health has been underfunded for decades, and many conditions that mostly or only affect women, or affect women differently, have received little to no attention,” the first lady Jill Biden said in announcing a new White House initiative on women’s health research on 13 November. “Because of these gaps, we know far too little about how to manage and treat conditions like endometriosis, and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. These gaps are even greater for communities that have historically been excluded from research – including women of color and women with disabilities.” Not only do researchers fail to include enough women in clinical trials, they often don’t look for differences between how men and women respond to treatments. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 20 November 2023 Further reading on the hub Dangerous exclusions: The risk to patient safety of sex and gender bias Gender bias: A threat to women’s health Animal testing doesn't work, we need to find new ways of testing the safety of medicines—a blog by Pandora Pound
  15. Content Article
    Surviving in Scrubs have published their first report 'Surviving healthcare: Sexism and sexual violence in the healthcare workforce' is now live. The report is an analysis of 150 survivor stories submitted to their website since they launched in 2022. It details the findings on the incidents, factors and challenges unique to healthcare that permit sexism and sexual violence in the healthcare workforce. The report contains recommendations to healthcare organisations to better support survivors and end these behaviours.
  16. News Article
    World leaders, cervical cancer survivors, advocates, partners, and civil society came together last week to mark the third Cervical Cancer Elimination Day of Action. The Initiative, which marked the first time Member States adopted a resolution to eliminate a noncommunicable disease, has continued to gain momentum, and this year's commemoration promises to be a beacon of hope, progress, and renewed commitment from nations around the world. “In the last three years, we have witnessed significant progress, but women in poorer countries and poor and marginalized women in richer countries still suffer disproportionately from cervical cancer,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “With enhanced strategies to increase access to vaccination, screening and treatment, strong political and financial commitment from countries, and increased support from partners, we can realize our vision for eliminating cervical cancer.” Australia is on target to be among the first countries in the world to eliminate cervical cancer, which the country anticipates to achieve in the next 10 years. In Norway, researchers have recently reported finding no cases of cervical cancer caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV) in 25-year-olds, the first cohort of women who were offered the vaccine as children through the national vaccination programme. Indonesia announced this week a declaration committing to reach the 90-70-90 targets for cervical cancer elimination through the national cervical cancer elimination plan (2023 to 2030). In the United Kingdom, England’s National Health Service (NHS) pledged this week to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040. Read full story Source: WHO, 17 November 2023
  17. News Article
    Women experiencing hot flushes, night sweats, depression and sleep problems could be offered therapy to help reduce their menopause symptoms, under new guidelines. But menopause champions warned that those suffering with symptoms could have long waits for mental health support and stressed that the new draft guidance to GPs from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) must not distract from “ongoing challenges” of getting HRT. A NICE evidence review found that cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can help make night-time sweats less severe and frequent and should be considered “alongside or as an alternative to HRT”. The guidance is not mandatory but GPs will be expected to take the new guidance “fully into account”, said Nice. Caroline Nokes, chair of the Commons’ women and equalities committee, welcomed the new guidance saying there was no “one size fits all” to help women going through the menopause, but said it must not be used to fob off women, some of whom were still facing drug shortages. A major HRT drug shortage last year resulted in 22 restrictions being put in place, pushing some women to turn to the hidden market or meet up with other women to buy, swap or share medicines. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 17 November 2023
  18. News Article
    Almost half a million women will be able to get the contraceptive pill from pharmacies in England, from next month, without the need for a GP appointment. Treatments for urinary infections and other common conditions will also be on offer under the Pharmacy First scheme. NHS England said it was a safe and common-sense way of making NHS services easier for patients to use. New Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins said the changes meant "more options for women when making a choice about their preferred contraception" and would free up GP appointments. From February, pharmacists who successfully apply to join the scheme will be able to offer advice and treatment, including antibiotics, for seven common conditions: sinusitis sore throat earache infected insect bites impetigo shingles urinary tract infection in women. Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 November 2023
  19. News Article
    A woman who suffered traumatic complications from a vaginal mesh implant has been awarded a record settlement of at least £1m from the NHS. Yvette Greenway-Mansfield, 59, was given a mesh implant at Coventry’s University Hospital in 2009 and went on to suffer serious complications. Her medical negligence claim against the hospital trust found that the surgery was carried out prematurely and unnecessarily and that her consent form had been doctored to include additional risks after Greenway-Mansfield had signed it. Greenway-Mansfield said that being awarded the compensation was a “huge relief”, but added that many other women who have suffered similar damage had received little or no compensation, and criticised the government’s failure to establish a financial redress agency for victims. “I’m not the only one. There are thousands of mes,” she said. “There should be a pot of money to provide damages for these women and a care plan in place as an automatic response to mesh-damaged people. It comes down to a perception of women and women’s health problems. We’ve all had enough of it.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 13 November 2023
  20. Content Article
    During the bleak early years of the Covid pandemic, if there was one thing we were all doing, it was “following the science”. This, we were repeatedly assured, was what was driving all the government’s tough decisions. We might not like all its policies but we shouldn’t, it was implied, argue. After all, it was – always – just “following the science”. But was it really? In her evidence to the Covid inquiry, former civil servant Helen MacNamara revealed that in April 2020, the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, asked the former chief executive of the NHS in England, Simon Stevens, about reports that female frontline healthcare workers were struggling with PPE that had been designed for men. Stevens is said to have “reassured” the prime minister that there was “no problem”. However, as Caroline Criado Perez highlights, report after report over decades has found that while PPE is usually marketed as gender-neutral, the vast majority has in fact been designed around a male body, and therefore neither fits nor protects women. In fact, more often than not, it’s a hindrance.
  21. Content Article
    During a fellowship rotation in gynaecology, Rebekah Fenton, asked the attending physicians what pain management options they could offer patients for insertion of an intrauterine device (IUD). Their answer surprised her: none.  The research on the effectiveness of pain management techniques during the procedure were not strong enough to warrant providing potential relief.  But Fenton knew the attending physician was wrong: she'd received the drug lidocaine during a recent visit to her own ob/gyn to get an IUD placed. The local anesthetic enabled her to avoid the experiences of many patients who often withstand debilitating cramping and pain during insertion, side effects that can last for hours after the procedure has ended.  By not teaching her how to administer pain treatment options such as lidocaine gel or injection, "they made the decision for me, whether I could give patients this option," said Fenton, now an adolescent medicine specialist at Alivio Medical Center in Chicago. Related hub content: See our Pain during IUD fitting community thread.
  22. News Article
    Drug that can halve breast cancer risk offered to 289,000 women in England Anastrozole to be made available to women who have been through the menopause and have family history of breast cancer Almost 300,000 women at higher risk of developing breast cancer are being given access to a drug that can halve their risk in a “major step forward” in the fight against the disease. An estimated 289,000 women in England who are at moderate or high risk of breast cancer will from Tuesday be able to take the tablet to try to prevent it from developing, NHS bosses said. The drug, anastrozole, is being made available to women who are in greater danger because they have been through menopause and have a major family history of Britain’s commonest form of cancer. It displays “remarkable” potential to reduce the number of people who go on to develop the disease, the head of the NHS said last night. Every year, around 56,000 women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer – about 150 a day. While survival rates have improved, it still claims about 11,500 lives each year. “It’s fantastic that this vital risk-reducing option could now help thousands of women and their families avoid the distress of a breast cancer diagnosis,” said Amanda Pritchard, NHSC England’s chief executive. The drug will be taken as a 1mg tablet once a day for five years. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 7 November 2023
  23. Content Article
    In this interview we talk to Trainee Clinical Psychologist, Sabrina Pilav, about her latest research project exploring negative experiences of coil/ intrauterine device (IUD) procedures. Sabrina explains how their in-depth qualitative methodology could contribute to improvements in the future and shares details of how people can participate.
  24. Content Article
    Whilst menopause affects roughly half the population, there is still much to be understood about the impact on individuals, in particular on their mental health. Amber Sargent and Helen Jones, Senior Safety Investigators at the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), blog about the patient safety issues that arise when the impact of menopause on mental health is not considered during clinical assessments. In this blog, they explore: why serious mental health disorders develop around menopause the impact of limited research into this important area the role of raising awareness. Read the blog on the HSSIB website Related reading Raising awareness of surgical menopause Top picks: Women's health inequity
  25. Content Article
    The Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition (CYPMHC) and the Maternal Mental Health Alliance have launched ‘The Maternal Mental Health Experiences of Young Mums’ report, which includes both a literature review and first-hand insights from young mums impacted by maternal mental health problems.
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